Gareth Malone stuns in tight lycra jumpsuit after 'sign from God', C4 star says
Alex Horne is returning to our screens with a new series of Channel 4's The Horne Section, revealing how he convinced choirmaster Gareth Malone to don a lycra leotard in one scene
Viewers will see Gareth Malone like never before in The Horne Section's second season - with the choirmaster donning an impressive lycra leotard alongside Alex Horne in one particular scene. Taskmaster star Alex reveals that he managed to convince Gareth to take on the colourful cameo after bumping into him in a church.
' Gareth Malone will do anything,' Alex jokes. 'I offered him that role and when we were doing a read-through the week before, in a building that's also a church, he was rehearsing for a concert upstairs with a choir. He hadn't said yes yet, but because we were in the same place at the same time, it felt so much like a sign that it convinced him to do it. God might have been involved because we were in a church, but I'm not religious.'
Alex Horne is best known for his partnership with Taskmaster co-star Greg Davies, but he's finally sharing the screen with his actual wife in his other show.
Musical sitcom The Horne Section TV Show has returned for its second series, starring Alex Horne as a fictionalised version of himself – and radio presenter Rachel Horne, who married Alex in 2005, makes an on-screen cameo this time.
Rachel was a travel news reporter for BBC Radio 2 before joining the Virgin Radio breakfast show as a newsreader – a role she left last year.
'You see a bit of my wife. We could have got an actor to play my wife, but I think it's funnier if it's her,' says Alex, who shares three sons with Rachel.
'She's in the final scene of the last episode and it's lovely for me. I hope it's nice for her! It's nice for our kids in the future to see us in a thing together. But annoyingly, she's a pro – she's a journalist on the radio.'
Despite briefly working with his wife, Alex struggled to fit in family time due to the intense process. 'It's a lot harder than Taskmaster or touring because we left the house at 5.30am and got back at 8.30pm. Because I wrote it and produced it, it was all-consuming,' he says.
'But it's also stupid and pointless. You come home and you can't be a diva because what have you been doing all day?' The show follows Alex as he attempts to make a TV show about his titular band with the help of unenthusiastic executive Ash (Georgia Tennant) and producer Thora (Desiree Burch).
It's been a three-year wait for series two, even though it was filmed years ago. 'That was the schedule – we were trying to fit it around Taskmaster filming, there was a gap and we had to go for it,' Alex explains.
'You do worry that someone has been cancelled or someone died or that we've said something inappropriate, but I think we're fine,' he adds. 'I'm greyer now though – I quite like that younger version of me!'
Fans can expect more cameos from John Oliver and Tim Key this time around, as well as new stars including Ghosts ' Kiell Smith-Bynoe and comedian Stevie Martin.
While Alex's real wife appears in the show, their Buckinghamshire house does not – as their fictional home belongs to singer Imogen Heap.
'It's such a brilliant place to film. We were there for five weeks in the summer and it's beautiful,' he says. 'It's annoying that people think it's my house, because it's so much nicer than my house.'
Another absentee from this series is Greg Davies. 'He was in episode one of the first series to transition from Taskmaster into this world,' Alex says. 'But I didn't want it to be the same, so he's gone. It's airing after Taskmaster and you don't want another hour of the same people.'
With a sitcom, game show and live tour under his belt, could Alex be tempted by a reality show? 'I'd do Gogglebox – that's my plea.' But there may be a wait until Alex signs up for Strictly Come Dancing.
'I'd need to be 70 – while I should be able to dance as the frontman of a band, I'd only be letting everyone down. I'd be such a non-event.
' Bill Bailey ruined it for comics, as has Chris McCausland, because they were both so good and funny. So I'd have to wait until I'm the oldest-ever person to be on it.'
The Horne Section returns to Channel 4 at 10pm on Thursday 22 May.
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